An Act, A Quest, and the Rise of an Empire

So here we are plodding along in the year of the gamer. How you been doing so far? Not saying you have to play all, or even any, of the games on this list. But still, are you taking advantage of the year of the gamer? You should be! Here’s some more ideas if you’re […]

So here we are plodding along in the year of the gamer. How you been doing so far? Not saying you have to play all, or even any, of the games on this list. But still, are you taking advantage of the year of the gamer? You should be! Here’s some more ideas if you’re stumped and have nothing to play:
Feb 19: Wheel of Fortune (Board Game). Yes I know it’s a TV show, but it’s a board game too. Pretty fun. Well for most people. My mother-in-law is a guru and wins most games. And my father-in-law was on the actual show one time! So I don’t play this much needless to say…

Feb 20: Actraiser (SNES). A very interesting mix of simulation as you build your town, and side scrolling as you clear the area. You are the Master (aka God) so you have cosmic powers that are fun to unleash on the populace. Very fun game. Too bad they never made a real sequel to it. The first was Soulblazer, which is admittedly very good. But then the terrible Actraiser 2 came out and completely sucks. I hate dissing a side scroller cause I love them but it was a horrendous piece of caca. Stick with this gem instead.

Feb 21: King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown (PC). This was originally just called King’s Quest. The story was simple to in the original. Sir Graham gets to be king if he can find all the legendary treasures. The updated version has a much bigger storyline. But basically the point is the same, with Graham going to become the king at the end. The game was innovative as it used 16 bit graphics which were stellar at the time. Big adventure where the player must collect objects and figure out the uses to win the game. Don’t pass up anything as even small as a rotten tomato!

Feb 22: Tomb Raider (Video Game). Over 8 million copies of Lara’s first adventure were bought. There was something about a female Indiana Jones (with huge boobs!) that appealed to all of us. The games had intriguing puzzles and lots of action. Sure the graphics are very dated now, and Lara doesn’t even have anywhere near the same controls now. But don’t forget, this is where it all started.

Feb 23: Resident Evil (PS1). If Capcom was given an award for how it impacted video game history, you would find more than one series. (Mega Man anyone?) And this series would be at the top of the list. Survival horror was shot to the forefront because of this amazing game. Stuck in an old mansion in the middle of the woods. You have limited space to carry the scant supplies the game gives you. Not much ammo. Not much health. And zombies and rabid dogs everywhere. This game was awesome. Now it is once again dated like a lot of other games on this list. The blood looks fake, the rooms are brightly lit. And the hunters look almost comical, except their scream, that’s still scary. Still though, fun and challenging, this game is a treasure.

Feb 24: Empire Builder (Board Game). You start with a map of the USA. Your goal is to build railroads across it. Connect 5 major cities (out of the 6 on the board) and have 250 million dollars and you win. Super fun game. Up grade your trains. Deliver goods long distances to make more money. But watch out for floods, snow, and the Canadian rail strike. Only drawback to the game is the time involved. Even with the fast rules (where you double the speed of the trains) it still takes a minimum of 3 hours to play this game. And it always seem to take us all night to play it. Fun, but you better have a game room where you can leave it set up.

Feb 25: Acquire (Board Game). Avalon Hill made amazing games. They were usually pretty complicated. But they were always cool. This wasn’t the most complicated game. But it’s a helluva lot of fun. What your goal to win is to have the most money. You get this by investing in stock. Buy low, build the hotel chain, then sell high. More fun than it sounds, I promise. Best with more than 3 players because it gets hard to keep track of how much stock everyone has. Superb game. In my top 5 games of all time!

I love actraiser! I remember there was this one world where unhappiness was spreading amongst the populace… I think you were supposed to bring the gift of music or something but I couldn’t figure it out so I just earthquaked it 😀